Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Chocolate and caramel – a match made in heaven. That’s what I thought when Veron showed me this recipe – she was the host of this month’s challenge and asked me to be her partner in crime – thanks, sweetie! :)

We exchanged emails with many suggestions for the challenge but truth be told, who can resist this tart? I couldn’t, and didn’t.

The tart is delicious, but not as rich as I thought it would be – the chocolate topping is very light and smooth. The caramel fragments add a delicious crunch to it and the shortbread base is so delicious I have been thinking of using baking the amount left on my freezer as cookies.

I halved the entire recipe and got a 24cm round pie, with only a handful of pastry left.

There’s also some info I need to share: I ended up using the metric system to measure some ingredients and cup/tablespoon/teaspoon to measure others because some of the measurements were a bit confusing in my opinion – for instance, I weighed 2 ½ tablespoons flour and got more than 15g.

You’ll need to chill the pastry overnight, so plan accordingly.

Don’t forget to check the other Daring Bakers’ tarts – there’s a link to the complete list on my side bar.

A day ahead:In a mixing bowl of a food processor – I used my brand new Kitchen Aid, with the paddle attachment, yay!!! - cream the butter.Add the confectioners’ sugar, the ground hazelnuts, and the cinnamon, and mix togetherAdd the eggs, one by one, mixing constantly; sift in the flour, the baking powder, and the cocoa powder, and mix well.Form a ball with the dough, cover in plastic wrap, and chill overnight – take it out of the refrigerator a while before rolling it out, otherwise it will be too hard.

Preheat oven to 160ºC/325ºF.Line the baking pan with the chocolate shortbread pastry (roll it between plastic pieces and it will be a lot easier) and bake blind for 15 minutes.In a saucepan, caramelize 200g granulated sugar using the dry method until it turns a golden caramel color. Incorporate the heavy cream or crème fraiche and then add butter. Mix thoroughly. Set aside to cool.In a mixing bowl, beat the whole eggs with the extra egg yolk, then incorporate the flour.Pour this into the cream-caramel mixture and mix thoroughly.Spread it out in the tart shell and bake for 15 minutes (I baked for 20). Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Prepare the milk chocolate mousse: beat the whipping cream until stiff. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave or in a bain-marie, and fold it gently into the whipped cream – I set the chocolate aside for a couple of minutes to cool because adding the warm chocolate to the whipped cream did not seem right to me.

Pour the chocolate mousse over the cooled caramel mixture, smoothing it with a spatula. Chill for one hour in the refrigerator.

Alternate Caramel Method:

If you have problems with the dry method, you may use this method.

1 cup sugar½ cup water1 tablespoon corn syrup

Set mixture in a pot over medium-high heat and stir slowly. When the mixture comes to a boil, stop stirring and leave it alone. Wait till desired color is attained.Proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Caramel Fragments:Melt 100g granulated sugar in a saucepan until it reaches an amber color. Pour it onto waxed paper laid out on a flat surface. Leave to cool. Break it into small fragments and stick them lightly into the top of the tart.

Makes: One 22.5cm (9in) square or one 25cm (10in) round tart

* chocolate shortbread pastry can make 3 tart shells

** there’s no cake flour here in Brazil, so I used a substitute I found on the web: 1 cup cake flour = 7/8 cup all purpose flour + 2 tablespoons corn starch

I love the "shards" on your tart top, Patricia. Thanks for hosting the event, and choosing this tart. The milk chocolate turned out lovely, and we're still enjoying it several days later, believe it or not! Good Choice! Oh, and thanks for a break on the difficulty factor.

My Dear Patricia,What a Lovely tart! I love how your caramel is nice and dark and your mousse so thick and light looking! Thanks for pairing with Veron for a wonderful challenge! We all (the family) loved the tart and I wish I had more now! Great Job!

Patricia (and Veron) - I know this was only my third DB challenge, but it was my favourite one. I really liked the flavours, and am looking forward to making it again soon. I think it'd be perfect for Christmassy coffee night! I used the same plain/all-purpose flour I use for all my baking, and it worked just fine..

Your tart looks so pretty with the caramel decorations! Thank you so much for hosting and for choosing such a delicious recipe. Your tips for metric measurements and cake flour substitution are a great idea.

I know for sure I would like to try this recipe with Daim caramel decorations on top. However, the tarte would be a trial, and perhaps an error test. It's tricky. People around the world having different ingredients, different pans, different flours etc...

Hi Patricia, Thank you for the challenge. It was a great one! Big hit with the children today. Also pleased to see your caramel was darker (as mine was too). I was starting to think I'd done something wrong. Your crust looks really neat too.

Patricia, that pie looks really yummy!!! I have awarded you the Nice Matters award over on my blog. Also have posted a thanks for the cannelloni recipe you did a few days ago. I posted my meat version. Thanks!!!! It was delicious!!!

Meeta, I didn't have much either - I think I gained 5 pounds just by looking at it! :)

Elle, thank you, sweetie! I'm glad things worked out even with the measurement issues.

Peabody, thank you - I'm glad to hear that.

Dagmar, gotta check your post!

Kelly-Jane, I'm glad you feel this way!

Mary, you did a wonderful job - as usual!

Lynn, thank you! I think you should join us sometime. ;)

Inne, thank you for your lovely words.

Karin, but that's one of the nice things about the DBs - we have to handle all those differences.I don't even have cake flour here in Brazil. :(

Amanda, gotta check your tart, sweetie! I'm glad to hear the kids enjoyed it.I have been making caramel since I was 13, so that is not an issue for me. And I always make it dark, but carefully not to burn it - it gets so bitter!

Pat, you and Veron made a great choice. As I only made the base I can only commnet on it.it was great. I love cinamon and just adored its beautiful scent. I love the way you presented yours - really beautiful.Mouth watering!!

Hi Patricia, did you have fun hosting this month's DB challenge? Eva and I are thinking of joining DB when she gets back from Germany. Your tart looks so tempting. I like the caramel bits on top. Have a lovely weekend.

Hiya. Thanks for leaving a sweet message on my blog! Well done on the Daring Bakers competition. I was speaking to Ivonne of 'Cream Puffs in Venice Blog' and hope to participate in September :) Erikawww.asweetpea.wordpress.com

Patricia: I baked some bread (a blog recipe) the other night. I have no idea what the difference between all purpose flour, bread flour and cake flour is. Another problem is weight and measurement when it comes to cups and pounds. The bread was nearly as hard as stone. My husband and I are lucky to have our own teeth. So, I suppose we´ll manage to chew this bread. Somehow:)

Thanks for the great challenge! I enjoyed making this tart and it tasted great. I used the metric too after I double checked the cup measure against the weight measure and found it to be way off. I wish in the US recipes would use the grams. Your tart looks wonderful. Wendy